Editorials

In the final day of the session, the Oregon Senate passed House Bill 2015, a measure that will allow illegal immigrants and other Oregonians who can’t prove their legal residence status to get…

The partisan excesses and political turmoil of the 2019 Oregon Legislature have been well-documented. But the now-finished legislative session also should be remembered for some good work on b…

Ask our brave friends in the U.S. Coast Guard and they will tell you with cool assurance that the people who survive a rescue at sea are wearing lifejackets. Those who fish or sail without wea…

When it comes to unfolding train wrecks, the best advice is to watch it happen from a safe distance.

There is no better example of political failure than the move by Republican lawmakers to walk away from the Oregon Legislature Thursday.

Politicians deserve plaudits when they do the right thing. In Oregon, they’re likely to get punished.

We’ve taken a wait-and-see attitude towards Oregon’s carbon cap-and-trade proposal, which has been winding its way through the state Legislature this session.

A few weeks ago, state Sen. Betsy Johnson of Scappoose took to the Senate floor and pointed out the irony within a proposal to change how Oregon helps elect our nation’s president.

Infrastructure is too boring a word for a set of assets that go to the very core of a functioning civilization.

Oregon’s unique tax “kicker” law is working exactly as intended, potentially sending more than $1.4 billion — yes, billion — back to taxpayers next year.

During Emergency Medical Services Week, it is fitting to salute all those who are trained and ready to respond to any crisis with skilled professionalism.

Oregon voters watched Monday as political drama took center stage in Salem when Republican members of the Senate returned after a weeklong walkout.

Over the past two and a half decades on this page we have celebrated the renaissance of Astoria.

The Oregon Legislature came oh-so-close to succeeding.

“Looting” isn’t a word that crops up very often in local news coverage, so it caused a degree of consternation last month when it was applied to a theft inside Lewis and Clark National Histori…

Every 10 years, as one decade transitions into the next, the U.S. government conducts a national census to count the number of people living in the country.

The good news is Gov. Kate Brown finally has a plan for putting PERS on solid financial footing. The bad news is that it includes pushing SAIF off that solid ground, as well as taking most of …

Our differences are well documented. Lines drawn along political, philosophical, ethnic and religious divides give the impression that we’re all on different teams.

Southern Resident Killer Whales come achieve nearly unanimous popularity in the communities surrounding Puget Sound, acquiring folk hero status in the past half century. Their trials and tribu…

That 825 Oregonians died in a single year by suicide is a sobering assessment of our collective ability to help those who feel trapped in their own despair.

The Oregon Legislature’s longtime human resources director was deservedly criticized for her handling of sexual harassment cases at the State Capitol. Yet Lore Christopher received a sweet dea…

Oregon’s history tells story of a populace’s fickle approach to the death penalty.

PERS will swallow much of the $2 billion that the Oregon Legislature is trying to raise for public schools. Even the Legislature’s Democratic leadership concedes this.

On the surface, life is back to normal in the Oregon Capitol.

When lawmakers are elected and go to Salem, they take with them the hopes and dreams of their home communities.

Democrats hold Oregon’s fate in their hands — at least for the near term.

It is in these early months each year when a sense begins to emerge about the condition of forthcoming salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest. Mysterious to the uninitiated, the North of Falcon …

Oregon legislators are to be commended for going outside Salem to hear from real people about the state budget and other issues. But lawmakers should go further, adding more rural perspective …

Former Secretary of State Norma Paulus was a product of rural Oregon. She exemplified what individuals can do when given a chance — conquering poverty, polio and the lack of a college degree t…

Dennis Richardson was a courageous man.

With the possible exception of some high school graduates who can’t wait to put a few hundred miles between themselves and their hometowns, everyone loves community colleges. They are the Mari…

For years on this page we have been celebrating incremental and occasional huge gains in health care services on the North Coast.

It’s fitting that Oregon’s birthday is on Valentine’s Day. It’s the loveliest state we can imagine, and we’re glad to call her ours.

You’re going to notice improvements in the paper this week.

As Virginia’s Democratic governor learned to his regret in recent days, a huge majority of Americans remain disgusted by the toxic bigotry of the Ku Klux Klan and all it stands for.

Every child in Oregon deserves an excellent education — regardless of where the student lives or attends school, regardless of whether the student comes from a well-to-do family or an impoveri…

As a society, we have made such progress against once-common illnesses that we forget they are still around and still potentially life-threatening. The measles outbreak in Southeast Washington…

It was with alarm that we learned that lawmakers in Salem are actively considering a proposal to make Oregon government actions less open.

The support from the North Coast community for Coast Guard personnel still waiting for a paycheck during the longest government shutdown in history is laudable. Businesses and individuals have…

As the Oregon Legislature prepared to start work this week, its leaders were saying all the right things about working together, respecting rural Oregon and doing what was best for the state a…

Plastic bags are lightweight, handy and easily thrown away after use.

Oregon state government has been stunningly inefficient when buying computers and other technology.

Questioning the fundamental usefulness of government is the backbone of some American political factions, notably including the now seldom-mentioned Tea Party. Most of these righteous skeptics…

A scathing report about sexual harassment in the Oregon Capitol is both deeply disturbing and deeply flawed.

Anew legislative report underscores that PERS could be headed for more trouble.

We wish our readers a Happy New Year and welcome 2019 as an opportunity for a fresh start.

As we wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and an enjoyable holiday season, it is fitting to reflect on some positive aspects of this week and next week’s fresh start with the New Year.

The Trump administration’s environmental policies are the ultimate screw-you moment for the youngest Americans, as well as for generations unborn. Following on the Environmental Protection Age…

Unlike much of the U.S., last month’s mid-term election was ho-hum in Oregon — as in, few election snafus.

The idea that young people working hard to get a much-desired education don’t have a permanent or safe place to live should be a priority to overcome.

No president of either party should have the power to wreck decades of carefully wrought trade policies.

It’s time to get your flu shot — if you haven’t already. You owe it to yourself, and to protect the people around you.

As President Donald Trump mulls his next choice for U.S. attorney general, we hope he chooses someone with a realistic view of legalized marijuana in Oregon and other states.

You know the drill.